A number of U.S. Patents describe safety IV catheters where the distal tip of the needle is provided with a degree of protection after use, including but not limited to: McLees, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,504; Erskine, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,880; Woehr, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,278; Bialecki, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,486; McGurk, U.S. Pat. No. 7,291,130; Rhad, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,548; Menzi, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,731,687; and Harding, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,774.
These prior art safety catheters all exhibit one or more drawbacks that could potentially place healthcare workers, or others at risk for a percutaneous or non-percutaneous blood or bodily fluids exposure after the needle tip is covered by the safety mechanism. Although the needle tip itself is covered after use on a number of available safety IV catheters, the entirety of the needle tip is not fully contained after use which could result in blood or fluid residing in the distal end of the needle lumen leaking, or otherwise escaping, into the workplace and contacting a healthcare provider. For example, splattered blood could enter a mucous membrane region of the eyes, nose or mouth of any healthcare personnel within close proximity to the splatter. The exposure should then be reported and post exposure treatment, prophylaxis and follow up would occur, incurring costs to the institution and worry to the individual exposed to the blood. Additionally, some commercially available needle guards can be easily defeated by an inadvertent incident where the components no longer protect or shield the contaminated tip.
FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a safety needle guard 10 similar to the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,278. The needle guard 10 is constructed from a single piece of material as shown in FIG. 1 and formed to assume the configurations depicted in FIGS. 2-5 during use. FIGS. 2 and 3 show different side views of the needle guard 10 in a ready position where the distal tip 18 of the needle 15 is unprotected. FIGS. 4 and 5 show the different side views of the needle guard 10 after the needle guard has been activated to cover the distal tip 18. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, although the extreme distal tip 18 of needle 15 is protected, the open lumen 17 in the bevel region 16 of the needle remains exposed. Another problem associated with the needle guard 10 is that forces may be applied to the needle guard arms 11 and 12 at locations to cause the distal arm segments 13 and 14 to be urged outward. This creates a risk of having the distal arm segments 13 and/or 14 being moved away from protecting the distal tip 18.